Stargazing
by Leikiz
Summary: A compilation of various oneshots I've done centered around Human!Endbringers.
1. Stargazing

_Stargazing_

The sky overhead was bright, every star standing out against the velvet blackness. They were only a short drive outside the city, but the difference it made was unparalleled.

"Wow..." Taylor breathed. "It's beautiful."

"It is," Simone said. She was very pointedly not looking at the stars.

Taylor adjusted herself, scooting a little further up the hood of the car, her head still craned upward to watch the sky.

"You forget it's up there," Taylor said softly. "All of that, buried behind smog and light pollution."

"Yeah."

Simone leaned in, trying to follow Taylor's gaze. She'd seen the sky enough for ten lifetimes, and could name every star up there without thought. But like this, trying to see it through Taylor's eyes added a sort of magic to it.

"Look! A shooting star!"

Taylor pointed. A pinprick of light flashed across the sky in a long arc before... suddenly veering off at an odd angle.

"That was weird," Simone remarked. She snickered inwardly. It was weird alright, unless you knew that Dragon had a satellite in that quadrant, and wanted to say, interrupt her day.

Taylor sighed before looking back down at the earth. "This was nice."

Simone slid a little closer to her. "It was. I can't think of anyone else I'd share this with."

"Yeah..." Taylor hesitated for a moment before meeting her eye. "It's funny, I'm still not used to... doing this kind of thing... with friends."

Simone's smile twitched, her face suddenly frozen. _Friends. Oh no. Oh no no no. They were not doing 'friends.'_

"Like, I think I did something like this when I was a kid. Me and Emma in the backyard."

"Yeah?"

Taylor looked away, her hands tightly clasped in her lap. "Yeah. And it's stupid, but... I mean, we were like sisters."

 _Sisters? Wait, no, she could work with that. Sisters could work. Look at Tohu and Bohu, fucking twincestuous sluts._

 _"_ I don't really have a sister," Simone said slowly. "But I can imagine what that would feel like. How I'd feel if Levi or Ben turned on me."

Taylor nodded. "We were like sisters. But... that... that was then." Her voice hitched, but redoubled, gaining force the more she spoke. "It's not my fault she turned out the way she did. And all that shit she said about me, that was _her."_

"I talked to her about that once," Simone interjected. "Emma. She was so worried about being strong, being invulnerable, that she couldn't recognize how strong you were. How lucky she was to have you in her life. How special-"

"Simone," Taylor said. She was blushing. "That's a little much."

"No." Simone shook her head adamantly. "It's not."

She scooted closer, close enough that their thighs were touching. Close enough to smell the hint of perfume Taylor had put on, a rose scent that Simone knew had belonged to Taylor's mother.

"Listen, I said there was no one else I'd share this with, and I meant it," Simone said. "And if I have to beat it into your head that you're a beautiful, wonderful, _goddamn special_ human being, then that's tough. And that's why I lov-"

Her cellphone rang.

 _FUCK EVERYONE._

"Ignore that."

Someone was dead. Someone was going to be so fucking dead for ruining her moment. Someone-

"Maybe you should just get it?" Taylor suggested, when the phone rang for the twelfth time.

Simone dug her phone out of her purse. The caller ID read simply, "Levi." The reason she hadn't say, used her precognition to look at it, might have been because she wanted to conserve every possible bit of psychic power for _FUCKING LEVI SIDEWAYS BECAUSE HE RUINED HER DATE AND NO ONE GOT A SECOND DATE WITH TAYLOR HEBERT, AND EVEN IF TAYLOR DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS A DATE, DIDN'T MEAN IT STILL WASN'T A DATE-_

 _"_ I'll be back in just a second."

She slipped off the hood of the car and rushed off into the woods. Only when she was a safe distance from Taylor did she answer.

"I'm gonna fucking murder you, Levi." Canary, who could literally talk people to death, could not have injected more murderous intent into her voice.

"Oh. Uh... hey," Levi stammered. "I was just calling because-"

"That gay swimming boys anime you like?" Simone growled. "None of them fuck. None of them will ever fuck. Not even in Season 2."

"Wha- AHH CMON!" Levi cried. "Why would you-"

"Listen closely," she said, her voice barely more than a hiss gritted through teeth. "Finish this call within the next five seconds or I'll personally spoil the plots of every show you watch from now until the sun explodes. And that's my warm up."

There were two seconds of silence - she counted, and Levi mumbled, "I'm supposed to attack and-"

"Spain."

"But what if Dadversary shows up? Shouldn't I-"

" _SPAIN._ "

She did not just hang up. She reached out across the city, found Levi's phone and crushed it into a ball the size of a flea. Then she hung up her end of the call and walked back to Taylor.

The other girl was looking up at the sky again. She stopped when Simone came back to the car.

"Everything okay?"

"Just Levi being a dumbass," Simone said airily. " _Boys_."

She hopped back onto the hood of the car. _But... now what? The mood was broken. Irreparably broken, and Taylor would never want another date because she'd killed the mood so badly and-_ _Fuck. She was gonna kill Levi._

"Where was I?" Simone whispered. Why bother? Taylor had the romantic density of a neutron star. You had to lay it on thick or she'd never catch on.

"I believe," Taylor said softly. "You were just telling me that you love me."

Simone gaped at her. But Taylor was meeting her gaze now, and she was smiling.

"I've never had anyone say that to me."

"Wha.. wha..." Simone couldn't manage real words. Her brain was having a critical meltdown. She didn't use precog on Taylor, but this- this was unprecedented- unbelievable in the extreme!

"I think you're right. There's no one else I'd rather share this night with," Taylor said.

And then she leaned in and- and- AND-

Soft lips brushed hers. Taylor had on peach lip gloss, and her breath was warm, the barest brush across Simone's lips, and then Taylor was pulling away and-

Simone toppled backwards off the hood. She hit the dirt and didn't even feel it.

Taylor had- Taylor _kissed her_.

She stared up at the sky. Another shooting star ricocheted off Dragon's satellite and she barely noticed.

A shape moved in front of the sky. Taylor was leaning off the car, peering down at her.

"Are you okay?!"

Simone managed a delirious smile. "It's a beautiful night, isn't it?"

STARSTARSTARSTARSTAR

Omake:

"You said Spain! I went to Spain!"

Simone glared at Levi. The hydrokinetic scowled back.

"Madrid. I said Spain, and you went to _Madrid_."

"It is in Spain," Ben supplied. He was sitting a safe distance away. Or so he thought.

"Coastal Spain! Levi attacks coastal targets! How- gaahh!" Simone shook her head. _God, the stupid. He was just so stupid_. "How did you even get there!?"

Levi shrugged. "There's a river. I surfed."

Simone's eye twitched. "You know that basketball anime you just started?"

"Kuroko no- wait Simone _don't!"_

"They aren't ever going to fuck. Not now, not ever, and that I have to keep telling this just speaks to how fucking insane you are for thinking a show aimed at teenage boys is going to have gay fucking in it!"

Levi groaned and ran from the room, hands clamped over his ears. Simone dashed after him.

"That cycling show you watched last week? Season 2 is coming out, and there's no yaoi!"


	2. Bird and Bug

"Hi, what's your name? I'm Taylor!" I said.

The little girl had a long, tangled mane of white-blonde hair. So long that I couldn't even see her eyes. She'd been standing alone by the woods for a while, and I'd come over to see what she was doing. She looked kind of lonely.

When the girl didn't answer, I tried a different tactic. "Do you want to play tag? My friend Emma is getting some other kids together, and we're all gonna play tag."

The girl stood stock still, not answering. And stood. And stood…

What was her deal? Maybe she was shy. If I was shy, I'd want someone else to take the lead. So I held out a hand to the girl. Pale fingers crept around mine, and I beamed at her.

"Let's roll!"

We trotted back to the playground, hand in hand. Emma stood in a crowd of other kids, practically bouncing back and forth as she talked to everyone.

"Who's the brat?" Emma said, giving the girl a disapproving look.

"Dunno. She's gonna play tag with us." I hesitated. We hadn't actually gotten that far. "I think."

"She's too little."

"Emmmaaa." I said. "Be nice to… whatshername."

"You don't even know her name?"

"Simone."

Emma and I looked down. The girl's bangs had parted slightly, just enough that I could see a single gray eye peering at us. Her grip tightened a little bit, like she was scared of Emma.

"See, she said her name is Simone." I said triumphantly. "Simone, you wanna play tag with us?"

Simone gave the tiniest of nods.

Emma huffed, scuffing her shoes in the dirt. "Fine. But she better not cry if she gets tagged."

"That was what you did." I said.

"Yeah, but that was _last year_." Emma said. She gave Simone one last glance before turning back to the other kids.

I pulled Simone aside. "You know how to play, right?

Nod.

"You gonna be okay?"

Nod.

"…can you see where you're going?"

She hesitated.

"I thought so." I said, rummaging in my pockets. "My hair is super tangly too, and my mom always makes me carry _this!_ " My blue ribbon fluttered in the breeze. I already had the green one in my hair. The blue one was in case I lost it, but Mom wouldn't mind if I let Simone borrow it.

Simone's eye got really big.

"Pretty, isn't it?"

Two nods.

"Right… now let's just…" I wrestled Simone's messy hair back and forced it into a rough ponytail. It took some work to get the ribbon tied, and it wasn't perfect. Not like Mom would have done.

When it was all said and done, Simone stood blinking owlishly; squinting her eyes even in the early morning sun. She was pale, almost ghostly with her hair. Privately, I thought she looked like an angel. Not like one of those cheesy cherubs, but one of the pretty ones who held trumpets and flaming swords and stuff.

"Thank you."

"It's just a ribbon." I was a little embarrassed. She liked the ribbon enough to actually say something.

I took Simone's hand again and led her back to Emma.

"Now that Taylor and… _you_ are ready, we're gonna play tag!" Emma said. She seemed annoyed by seeing Simone still there, but I couldn't figure out why.

"Annd… you're it!" Emma tagged Simone on the top of her head and ran for it. All the kids scattered, screaming excitedly as they went. I was still holding Simone's hand.

"I could be it, if you want."

Simone shook her head. There was a faint blush on her cheeks, and she stared determinedly at Emma's fleeing back.

"I am it."

The resulting game of tag spanned not only the playground, but most of the nearby woods as well. By the time it ended, I was splattered with mud, and had a veritable birdsnest of hair with all the sticks and leaves caught in it. Funnily enough, I'd lost my ribbon somewhere. I lay slumped in the grass with my shoes kicked off.

"H-h- is your Mom coming to pick us up?" Emma panted, flopping down beside me.

She wasn't as dirty as I was, but she'd had to work a lot harder. Simone had tagged her back in record time. I wasn't sure, but I suspected that Simone had tagged Emma every time she was it. The little girl was surprisingly fast.

I checked her watch. Almost noon. "She should be here in a minute." Grass rustled behind us, and I looked up to see Simone sitting primly. She smiled broadly at us.

"Twelve times." Simone said, pointing to Emma. Emma gave her a dirty look.

"She's not allowed to play anymore."

"Emma!" Emma could be a sore loser sometimes, but she wasn't usually this bad. She really disliked Simone for some reason.

"Taylor, Emma, time to go!" Mom's voice carried easily over the whole playground.

I shot up, looking around for her. She was standing next to the car, waving at us.

"Bye, I hope I see you again." I said to Simone. I met a lot of neat people at the playground, but Simone was… she was kinda weird, but I liked her. She was fun.

"Cya." Emma said curtly.

We made our way over to the car. It was getting cloudy now. Big black clouds were blocking the sun. Mom had picked a good time to come.

"Taylor, what have you been doing? And Emma…" Mom sighed dejectedly. "You're both getting a bath when we get home. I'm not sending you home looking like a vagabond, Emma. I'd never hear the end of it from Alan."

"Sorry Mom." I said. I didn't like disappointing Mom, but I'd had enough fun today to make up for it. It was like math. Enough fun canceled out bathtime's unfun.

"Sorry Mrs. Hebert." Emma echoed.

"The things I put up with. I should have had a boy. Nobody complains when boys get dirty!" Mom said dramatically. She paused, looking over my shoulder. "Well, hey there. Who are you?"

I turned to find Simone standing there. A lock of hair had escaped her ponytail and fallen over one eye.

"This is Simone, Mom. We played together today."

Thunder rumbled ominously, and Mom looked at Simone with concern.

"Are your parents picking you up, sweetheart?"

Head shake.

"She's shy, Mom." I whispered.

"I see… Simone, do you live around here?"

Head shake.

"How are you getting home?"

Shrug.

"Do you know where you live? What your last name is?"

Two head shakes.

Mom looked to me for help. "Taylor?"

I shrugged. "I don't know." It hadn't come up. It's not like you needed a last name to play tag.

"Simone," Mom said. "How did you get here?"

"Sent."

"You were sent here?"

Nod.

"Who sent you? Your parents?

"Mission."

Mom was looking increasingly aggravated. "A _mission_?! What mission?"

Simone pointed at me. What the heck?

"Me?"

The look that passed over Mom's face was one I'd never seen before. She went from annoyed to scary in seconds. She took Simone's arm and pulled her away from us.

"Emma, Taylor, get in the car." She used the voice grownups only used when they were really, _really_ serious.

Me and Emma watched from inside the car. The windows were shut, and we couldn't hear anything. We still had our noses pressed up against the glass, trying to see what Simone and Mom were talking about.

"You just had to talk to the weird kid, didn't you?" Emma said.

"She's not weird." Simone was pretty weird, but I wouldn't admit it to Emma.

"Why's she here for you?"

"Dunno. Maybe I'm like a secret princess or something."

Outside, Mom was talking very fast, moving her arms a lot. Simone seemed to be as quiet as before.

Simone nodded. Nodded again. Shook her head. Nodded.

Mom looked upset now. Her face was getting all red, and she was pacing back and forth.

"Fine!" She shouted loud enough for us to hear. Then she stormed back to the car and yanked open the door. Simone slid into the back seat.

"Mom?" I said.

"Not now." Mom said. "We're going home."

"Uh-" Emma cleared her throat.

"Emma's house first. Then home." Mom said. There was a vein pulsing in her temple. "Simone, buckle your seat belt."

By the time we took Emma home it was raining. Mom was so mad that she was leaning forward, muttering under her breath every time we hit a stoplight. She kept glancing in the mirror to look at me and Simone. Simone sat quietly and looked out the window. It didn't seem to bother her that Mom was mad.

The car had barely stopped moving into the driveway when Mom leapt out and herded us inside.

She pointed at Simone and then the couch. "You, sit." Then she pointed at me. "You… watch her. Both of you stay here."

I could smell something good from in the kitchen. It smelled like Dad was making lunch. He had the day off and was using it to catch up on housework. He had a lot to get done, but he'd promised to make time to hang a sign on my door that said "Taylor's Room." We all knew it was my room, but it was fun to have.

"Danny!" Mom called. There was the sound of pots clattering in the kitchen, and Dad burst into the living room. He had spaghetti sauce smeared across his cheek, and he looked worried.

"Annette? What is it?" He said. Then he saw Simone. "Who's that?"

"Kitchen." Mom said shortly. They vanished into the kitchen, leaving me alone with Simone.

"So… why are you here?" I said. "Like, what's your mission for?"

"Can't tell."

"You told my Mom."

"Part of the mission."

"What's it got to do with me?"

Head shake.

I groaned. She'd gone back to gestures. I was about to try and listen in on Mom and Dad's conversation when Simone pointed at the front door.

Someone knocked a second later. How did she…

"I'll get it. Taylor, do not open the door!" Mom shouted. She sounded just as mad as before. Simone pointed more insistently, looking at me.

"I should open the door." I said.

Nod.

She was pretty aggravating. Everything didn't have to be 20 Questions.

I went to the door. Simone smiled at me. And, as I opened the door, I had the sudden feeling that I was going to regret it.

The woman standing on the front porch looked kind of like Mom. Her black hair was cut in the same way, but she didn't dress like Mom at all. Mom definitely didn't own a fancy suit like this lady did. She didn't have an umbrella, but she was perfectly dry, even though it was still raining.

"Hello there." The lady said. She had a weird accent that I didn't recognize. "May I come in?"

"You're a stranger."

She smiled at me. "You can call me Contessa, if you want."

That didn't convince me. She was still a stranger. A stranger with a strange name.

"I'm here to see Simone too. May I come in?"

How did she know _that_? Simone had only been here for like ten minutes.

A hand grabbed my shoulder from behind and I jumped. Mom and Dad stood behind me, both of them dead serious.

"Hello." Contessa said to them. "May I?"

"No." Dad said.

"Yes. Mom said through gritted-teeth.

They looked at each other, and Dad relented.

"Thank you." Contessa said. I stepped aside and she walked in, tucking her hat under one arm.

"Hello Simone." She said. Simone _blushed_. She looked like she'd just gotten caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Contessa sat down beside her, still smiling pleasantly. Mom pointed me to a chair, and she and Dad stood next to me like guards.

"Explain." Dad said. He was the one getting mad now. I didn't like it when he got mad. He and Mom always ended up shouting at each other.

"Well, I was going to start from the beginning, but as _someone_ ," Contessa nodded at Simone, who blushed again. "Decided to show up early, I think I'll skip to the important parts."

She turned to me. "Taylor, how would you like a new little sister?"

I stared at Mom with eyes as big as plates. "You're pregnant?!"

Contessa snorted with laughter. Mom closed her eyes and took a couple of deep breaths before she answered me.

" _No_ Taylor, I'm not pregnant. She means Simone."

"What?" What she was saying didn't make any sense. What about Simone?

"Simone would be your sister." Contessa said. "How do you feel about that?"

I… I wasn't sure how to feel, really. Little sisters weren't supposed to drop out of the sky like this.

"Who are you? Are you Simone's mom?" I said.

"I was wondering the same thing." Dad said. "Who are you exactly?"

"No, Simone doesn't have a mother. Consider me a… an interested party. Mr. Hebert, this arrangement would be extremely advantageous to all parties. If you'd like, the organization I represent could provide assistance with-"

"No." Simone interrupted. "Hands off."

Contessa looked surprised, her ever-present smile fading. "I see. Simone, you would be…"

Nod.

"Ah. Completely and totally, then?"

Nod.

Contessa frowned. "I know you don't know how the path goes either. Surely we could provide some direction? Even with your knowledge, you're only a child."

Head shake.

I was completely lost. This felt less like two people having a conversation that was over my head, and more like two people being deliberately weird.

Contessa questioned Simone on a few other things, and when no clear answers came, she stood. "Mr. and Mrs. Hebert, if we could discuss this in the kitchen?"

Dad stomped into the kitchen, leaving Mom with me. She glared at Contessa.

"You don't have to agree to anything." Mom said to me. "Don't let her pressure you."

She and Contessa exited. The faint murmur of voices started up in the kitchen. Dad's was the loudest, but I still couldn't hear anything clearly. It seemed like people kept having conversations that I wasn't allowed to hear.

"Taylor." Simone said. There was a note of pleading in her voice. It sounded odd, compared to her normal monotone. "Mission!"

"I don't really understand. You want to be my sister, right?"

Nod.

"That lady isn't forcing you or anything? Like, if I say no, she's not going to throw you off a cliff or something?"

Head shake.

"All of this… why? Your mission?"

Nod.

We were back to 20 Questions again.

"If you become my sister, we're not doing the nod and shake thing. We're gonna talk."

Simone almost nodded, but then caught herself. She smiled at me. "Yes. Sisters."

"What if Mom and Dad say no?"

"Contessa. They will agree."

I sighed. Eight year olds weren't supposed to make big decisions like this. Couldn't it wait until I was a grownup? Like in three or four years, at least. I liked Simone, but even I knew that having a girl I'd just met be my sister was a bad idea.

"You'll get superpowers."

"Bull."

Simone shrugged. "You would agree anyway. You think having a sister will be fun."

…Yeah, I was going to, but I wasn't going to put up with any of that smart-allecky stuff.

Because when it came down to it, regardless of the consequences, it was just one of those choices that you knew the answer for. A gut feeling.

"What do you want? Like, what do you get out of all this?"

"Humanity. A sister."

That… that didn't answer my question at all. But… what the heck? Mom and Dad were gonna be furious, but I was almost nine. It was about time I started making big decisions.

"Alrighty then. Let's be sisters."

Simone held out her hand, and I took it, her pale fingers once more clasping mine. She squeaked with surprise as I pulled her into a tight hug. Her hands dithered about for a moment before she returned the hug.

It felt nice. Like we'd just done something good. Something important. As weird as today had been, I was excited for what was going to change now.

"Taylor." I let Simone go. She put her hands on my shoulders and pulled me down to eye-level. With a toss of her head, she whipped her bangs away and our eyes met. Her gray eyes had a frightening intensity. They bored into me, and I found I couldn't look away.

"Khepri."

The word echoed in my ears. A nonsense word. A name that meant nothing, though I knew it to be a name. Something shifted deep inside me. I felt the change, and-

 _Stars_.

 _I saw stars._

 _Stars going out, one by one._


	3. Nephele and Cass

"I know you're in there! Open the door dammit! We're going to be late."

The pounding continued. At one point, there had been a door on that section of wall, but currently there was only a door shaped patch of wall. Impossible to open, but unfortunately not sound proof.

"That's it!" Bug Sister's voice echoed from the other side of the un-door. "I'm getting Ben." Loud, angry footsteps pounded off down the hall.

Nephele barely stirred from her nest of blankets in front of the tv. Grinding levels in the Item World was sooo boring. She still had to reach the Item God, grind her stealing hand, and then grind the Item God for Rank 40 weapons.

Boooriinnnng.

Too boring in fact.

She saved her game and turned off the console. Time to do something constructive. She pulled her 3DS from its holster. The little jingle as it turned on always gave her a thrill.

While she waited for her game to load, she leaned back, looking at Cass.

"You think she's really going to get Ben?" She said.

Cass grunted.

"Casss." Nepehele whined. "Caassssssss."

Nephele kept doing it until Cass answered her. The older girl turned her head the barest inch away from her computer screen.

"Probably. Taylor usually keeps her threats. Remember that time she gave all those gang members mega-crabs?"

Nephele gagged. "I do now."

"'Sides," Cass said in her slow, husky voice. "Little Zizter is out there too."

"How do you know that?"

Cass didn't answer for a long moment, focusing on placing another row of blocks onto her lifesize recreation of one of the castles from Lord of the Rings. Nephele didn't understand the appeal. Building stuff was boring. Building levels and grinding characters were the fun parts.

"Simone is here because she and Taylor go everywhere together. This outing was probably Simone's idea to begin with."

"Huh." Nephele glanced at her 3DS.

 _125% Completion. 999:99:99 Hours Playtime_

Awww crap, she'd beat this game ages ago.

With a sigh, she deleted the save file and started a New Game. Wait. That was dumb. She went back and selected New Game+++ on Ultra Critical Mode. There, now it was perfect.

"So uh- are like Taylor and Simone our equivalents? We're twins, but they're sisters."

Cass shrugged. "Probably. Odd how that worked out." She paused her game and stretched languorously. Only when Cass was resettled in her armchair did she continue speaking.

"Maybe Levi and Ben are counterparts too. But that leaves Ken out of the loop."

Nephele rolled her eyes. "That's cuz Ken is a dork. He actually thinks that the dub of _Pretty Soldier Mouse Protector_ is better than the sub. I mean- they couldn't even get Mouse Protector to redub her lines in English!"

"The Slaughterhouse Nine dissected her before the dub came out, Nephele." Cass sounded annoyed. Nephele could never figure out what would set her sister off. Maybe Cass thought the dub was better too?

She was about to ask when the un-door exploded. Blinding rays of horrible sunlight pierced into their dark den. Cass and Nephele both squealed and dove for the darkness.

A tall black boy stood silhouetted in the doorframe.

"C'mon and get ready." He said, waving a hand through the cloud of plaster dust filling the apartment. "I don't like it any more than you do, but Simone threatened to spoil all my shows if I didn't come."

Nephele coughed theatrically from beneath her mound of blankets. "Ben! You got dust everywhere. I'm going to have to wash all my body pillows now!"

Cass' reaction was more worrying. She stood, her Minecraft castle forgotten, her face stony.

"You got dust in my computer." She said it in her usual deliberate voice, but now there was a menacing undertone. "Do you know how this is going to affect the life of my machine? I'm going to have to take it apart to clean it."

Ben folded his arms. "It stinks in here anyway. How long as it been since you went outside?"

"Three weeks, four days." A musical voice said. Nephele groaned. Great. She was here.

Taylor ambled into sight behind Ben. A tiny silver-haired girl hung from Taylor's arm. Nephele still didn't get why Taylor let Simone cling to her all the time. She'd go nuts if Cass was all over her like that.

"That's gross." Taylor said sternly. "Now you're definitely coming."

Nephele and Cass groaned as one.

Taylor scowled at them. "Don't make me _make_ you."

That got them moving. Nephele pulled on her flip-flops and staggered toward the door. Cass stayed barefoot and followed close behind.

"Where are we going?" Cass said.

Simone grinned. "Clothes shopping." Her silver eyes traced over the twins' ratty, unwashed outfits. "Lots of clothes shopping. I brought Ben to carry bags. We're going to have Taylor try on _dresses_."

This time, Simone was the only one who didn't groan.

STARSTARTSTARSTAR

A fairly lackluster attempt at Human!Tohu and Bohu. Had Tohu pegged as a munchkiny sort of powergamer, and Bohu as more of an obsessive builder. So Tohu's grinding levels in Disgaea until her fingers bleed, while Bohu constructs life-size recreations in Minecraft.


	4. Daddy Issues

Daddy Issues

They flew high above the world. The blue in the sky was bleeding off into black. Even the clouds were far below them now. Sister took the lead, setting their flightpath with her usual unerring confidence. She followed, not directly, but mirroring Sister in a delayed helix, spiraling together. Her copy of Sister's powers told her that the shape of their flight was important- that it would inspire specific responses in observers, but her imitation was too limited to know more.

After a time, Sister stopped, the sun to her back. She faced Taylor, little more than a silhouette in front of the sun. Taylor spoke, her words audible even in the near-vacuum.

"I have a question."

"And I have answers." Sister replied smugly. Taylor rolled her eyes.

"Do you think I have- uh... Daddy issues?"

Sister raised an elegant eyebrow. "What brought this up?"

"Dad and I had a fight. And when I told Clockblocker, he made a joke about me having... you know."

"Oh Taylor..." Sister flew to her and took her hand. "Of course you have Daddy Issues."

" _What_?!" Taylor shouted.

"Shh." Sister began stroking her hair. "You have them, I have them, our brothers have them. Everyone has them."

"But-" Taylor sputtered. "I- _you_ have them? How do you- you don't even have a dad."

"Of course I do. I think you even know who he is."

Taylor stopped and thought. _It couldn't possibly be... No way. She couldn't be serious_.

"Are you talking about Eidolon?"

Sister just smiled. After a moment, she pulled away and pointed down at the Earth.

"All of that," She swept her hands across the world. "All of that is Daddy Issues."

"So all of the murder and plotting were-"

"That's right. All three of us have a bone to pick with that man. We just have extreme ways of showing it. I take out my anger on fathers everywhere."

Taylor looked at her incredulously. "Seriously?"

"Why do you think there are so many ruined fathers out there? All me. Mannequin. Mad dad. Siberian. Sad Dad." Sister smirked. "I had Leviathan target Kaiser for the same reason."

" _Seriously?!"_

"Seriously. Why do you think we picked you? What would devastate your father more than anything else in the world?"

Taylor's jaw dropped, and she gaped at her sister in horror. "My... Dad?"

Sister's smile faded as she saw Taylor's face. "That was a joke!" She held up her hands defensively. "Just a joke. And nothing else."

Taylor didn't look any happier. "If Dad knew- he'd never..." She trailed off, her lip quivering.

Sister shifted, embracing her from behind. Her wings enfolded both of them, blocking out the world behind a layer of white.

"He'll never find out as long as you stick with me. Also, I think he deserves more credit than you give him. He really loves you, you know that?"

"Yeah." Taylor whispered. She let her wings retract, putting herself entirely in Sister's hands. "Why did you pick me anyway?"

"You're the best equipped to kill Eidolon, among other things." Sister put a finger to her lips thoughtfully. "Hmm... I guess that's a Daddy Issue also."

"For Father's Day this year, can we kill Heartbreaker or something? I want at least some good to come from your weird patricide thing." Taylor hesitated. "Or we could- You could celebrate with my dad and me."

Sister didn't answer. She just ran her fingers through Taylor's hair, combing it the way her mother used to. They stayed that way for a while, just floating along. Sister was the one to break the silence.

"Wave to Dragon!" She pointed at a light moving across the sky. Taylor waved. Sister just smiled her Mona Lisa smile and tweaked the satellite's course.

As the satellite drifted away on its new course, Sister spoke again. "I forgot about Dragon. I killed her father too."

"Daddy Issues." Taylor said. She sighed heavily. "Get Heartbreaker first. Then- uh... Does Jack Slash have any kids?"

"You could argue that Bonesaw is like an adopted daughter." Sister stared off into space, looking at a world only she could see. "I wonder if I can get Heartbreaker and Jack at the same time?"

Taylor smiled for the first time. "Show off."

Simurgh smiled back. "You haven't seen how Eidolon dies yet."

STARSTARSTARSTAR

This was the first fic I ever posted on SB. It came as an omake from an unpublished attempt at Endbringer!Taylor, but works fine as a standalone story.


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